The veritable tidal wave of support for gay marriage has been gaining steam and force for many years. The biggest single event was the movie Philadelphia which actor Tom Hanks won an Academy Award for in 1993. At the Academy Awards the most popular color was red, but not as in the red carpet the Oscars are known for as for the red ribbons being worn by every celebrity and actor in attendance as a show of support for AIDS victims.
And the tour de force that Hollywood and television are chipped in later with such programs as Queer Eye for the Straight Guy and others. Today it is not uncommon to encounter homosexual characters or themes in most major television programs and many motion pictures.
The question must be asked--what caused such a dramatic shift in a society that in the 1950's was known for it's religious heritage? And sadly, that very religious heritage may be what is to blame. For too many church-going people in the glorious 1950's supported segregation and institutionalized racism as well as openly bashing (remember that concept?) homosexuality.
And society recognized this occurrence and it never forgot--or forgave.
And now today the argument could be made that the stunning about-face of society in support of gay marriage is partly due to the visceral opposition that has been posed by church-goer's over the years. Remembering church teachings against homosexuality and desegregation--or at the very least, the support of it's practitioners for segregation and "gay bashing"--has contributed to the impressive shift to the opposite extreme.
This isn't so much support for that shift as it is recognition of it's occurrence and one possible cause of the same.
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